Terms of Reference (TORs) for Local Civil Society Organizations (Registered)

Project: Capacity Building for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure for Safer Communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Safer Communities)”

Location: Dera Ismail Khan, Charsadda and Swat

Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation (Helvetas) is currently implementing the “Capacity Building for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure for Safer Communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Safer Communities)” project. The Safer Communities project aims to enhance flood resilience of the community infrastructure by training cross section of professionals, para-professionals, community and skilled workers as well as of the executioners and implementers of infrastructure projects. This capacity building effort will help in greater community engagement, institutional strengthening, and skills development.

The Safer Communities project will:

• Train 270 persons (90 Person each district) from four key actor groups (planners and designers; field engineers and supervisors; skilled/semi-skilled workforce such as masons and carpenters; and community-based O&M committees).
• Deliver a stepwise training programme covering orientation to climate risks, feasibility assessment, climate-resilient design, safe execution, O&M, retrofitting, and monitoring.
• Establish inclusive and gender-responsive O&M committees to ensure sustainability of practices and continuity of results.
• Strengthen institutional linkages with government departments (Irrigation, C&W, PDMA, P&D) for policy integration and future scaling.

Objective:

The objective of publication of this TOR is to engage a qualified and registered local civil society organizations (CSOs) to facilitate project implementation, community and social mobilization regarding identifying/nomination for Operation & Maintenance committee members, infrastructure workforce, facilitate trainings of the project and to ensure project impact (adoption of construction techniques) at community level.

Scope of Work:

The local civil society organizations will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Facilitate community engagement and participation in project activities by mobilizing existing O&M committees and construction work force.
• Establish and maintain relationships with community leaders and groups
• Sensitize communities on project objectives and activities
• Provide linkages to the O&M committees, identifying O&M Committee members and construction workers who could be trained in climate resilient construction techniques.
• Identification and nomination of 10 O&M Committee members from 5 O&M Committees per district and 20 infrastructure workers per district for capacity building trainings on climate resilient construction techniques.
• Follow up with O&M committees and infrastructure workforce to document adoption of training in their operations.
• Ensuring gender inclusion in identification and nomination of O&M committee members and construction workers.
• Provide guidance to O&M committees on their roles and responsibilities.
• Coordinating training schedules to the O&M committee members and infrastructure workforce.
• Ensure participation of O&M committee in training sessions and workshops.
• Facilitate linkages between the community and relevant government agencies or service providers for practical implementation of climate resilient infrastructure techniques.
• Monitor progress and report to the project team.
• Facilitate liaising/coordination with stakeholders and support in arranging training workshops.

The Civil society organizations (CSOs) will provide support to reach the project objective, goals and results by providing linkages to the O&M committees, identifying O&M Committee members and construction workers who could be trained in climate resilient construction techniques.

Requirements:

The civil society organization should have:

• Presence in the district of operation with existing ongoing or recently concluded projects in the district.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in community development and social mobilization
• Strong coordination and communication skills
• Ability to work with diverse stakeholders
• Proven track record of delivering infrastructure projects
• Strong understanding of local context and community dynamics
• Fluency in local languages (if applicable)

Logistics and Support:

The civil society organization (CSO) will be responsible for:

• Providing necessary staff and resources for their role in project implementation
• Managing project finances and accounting
• Ensuring compliance with donor and government regulations
• Providing regular updates to the project management team

Evaluation Criteria:

The civil society organization will be evaluated based on:

• CSOs who have undertaken infrastructure projects recently and have active O&M committees which can be trained in climate resilient infrastructure will get preference in selection
• Proven experience of implementing or supporting implementation of infrastructure projects in the in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, specifically in the project districts
• Proven experience of community mobilization and social mobilization efforts in KP preferably in project area.
• Proven experience of working with stakeholders and building partnerships in KP preferably in project area.
• Financial management and reporting system in place
• Have proper registration and legal compliance
• Proper Due diligence will be carried out for evaluation
• Strong relationships with local communities and stakeholders
• Having complete presence in the project districts.
• Understanding of local context, culture and needs.
• Organization with funding diversity and numbers with similar projects. 
• Having complete outreach in project area.

Budget Breakup:

CSOs can present/quote their budget against:

• Management Costs
• Human Resource cost
• Administration/Logistics/Mobilization/Operational cost

CSOs will be involved in the project according to their TORs whenever training workshops at district level and hands-on demonstrations at field level be executed. The assignment time frame is Six (06) months. 

CSOs will be responsible for travel, stay arrangements and food charges of Operation & Maintenance Committee members and infrastructure workforce to participate in workshops/trainings and hands on demonstrations.  

Local organization of each of the three project districts will be preferred. One organization can apply for one district only.

Kindly send Finanace and Technical Proposals by February 2, 2026 by 1700 hrs to

Manager Admin.

HELVETAS Pakistan

First Floor, Plot No. 11, I&T Centre, G-6/1-1, Islamabad

051-2624694